RWBY plays Magic: The Gathering
by Program1
Summary: Our heroes have conquered many trials, now its time for them for face their greatest challenge yet...a "simple" card game. It's time to learn, master, and especially lose in Magic: The Gathering!
1. Chapter 1

**AN: This chapter has been edited for ease of reading. If you have previously read this chapter you may freely move on to the next one.**

 **Chapter 1: The first steps**

* * *

It was late in the day at the city of Vale, where we find our two heroes. Ruby wanted to pick up some ammunition, and decided to bring Jaune for company.

"Thanks for coming with me." Ruby said, with a small smile.

Jaune smiled back. "It's no problem Ruby." He said, confident that he'll help her as much as he can."How much stuff do you need anyway?"

Ruby pondered this for a bit, thinking of all the different items that she needed.

"Well it should mostly be ammo. But, I heard that this store is having a sale on tools today, so I should probably pick some up. Ooooh also I need to get some more storage packs and..." She said, slowly ramping her voice faster and faster.

Jaune gave a small sigh, knowing that she was gonna be a motor mouth for a while.

As they continued down the main street, a sign caught Jaune's eye. "Crimson's Hobby Shop" He said, half aware.

"Hmmm?" Confused, Ruby turned to where Jaune was looking.

It was a semi-large neon sign with dark red lighting over a simple red door.

"Wanna check it out?" Ruby asked, slightly interested in what items they could have.

"Yeah, they might have that Game of Remnant expansion." Jaune said, knowing that would convince her to go.

"You think so!? Lets go!" Ruby exclaimed, excited by the idea of crushing her teammate in the game. Ruby grabbed Jaune's arm and dragged him into the store.

* * *

Ruby and Jaune looked around the room with awe.

The store was a comprised of one large room, The walls were lined with posters and shelves, filled with many items ranging from books, board games, figurines, and dice bags. The back of the room had one large table covered in computers in two rows. In front of that were four long tables, half were being used by players playing some sort of game. Near the entrance was a large counter with a display case. Inside were random card items, dice, and many other game related items.

"Welcome to Crimsons!" Ruby and Jaune looked up from the display case at the man who spoke. He was a slightly taller man, wearing a black polo shirt and a blue hat with a red dragon symbol. "How can I help you two today?"

"Do you have the Faunus Revolt expansion?" Ruby asked.

"For Game of Remnant? I'll have to check." The man said, before turning and looking though the multiple shelves behind him.

As they waited the two decided to look over by the group of people, interested in what they were playing.

Ruby and Jaune stared as the players were a flurry of movement with the cards in their hands and on the field.

"What do you think they're playing" Ruby asked Jaune, slightly mesmerized by the colors of the cards and the actions of the players.

"No idea, but these cards do look a bit familiar." Jaune replied, thinking where he had see them before.

"Well unfortunately I don't think we have the expansion at the moment." The man at the counter said, gaining back the attention of the two.

Ruby gave a sigh of dejection, disappointed that it was out of stock.

"What game are they playing?" Jaune asked the man.

"Oh them? They're playing Magic the Gathering."

Jaune snapped his finger, realizing where he had seen them before.

"Ah, that's right! I remember now. I used to collect these when I was a kid." Jaune said, remembering that he played a bit at his old school.

"Was it fun?" Ruby asked, curious about the game herself.

"I think so? I played for a while, but my friends ended up going off to a different school, so I didn't have anyone to play with." Jaune replied, slightly sad about the memory of his friends going to combat school without him.

Ruby nodded, knowing how hard it was making friends and losing them.

"Well, do you think you could teach me? I wouldn't mind playing with you." Ruby said cheerfully.

Jaune looked at her with surprise, but then gave her a smile. "Sure, but we're gonna need to get some cards."

"Here you go." The man behind the counter said, pulling out a box. "The company who makes the game give us these started decks for beginners to play with."

Ruby and Jaune looked inside the box, inside were 5 smaller boxes of varying colors; red, white, black, blue, and green.

Ruby immediately grabbed the red box "I'll be taking this one!" She said, excited about here favorite color being there.

Jaune looked for a bit longer, before deciding on the white box.

"You can borrow some dice as well." The man said, as he pulled out a small black bag and handing over to Jaune.

Jaune nodded to the man in thanks and walked over to an empty table with Ruby in tow.

* * *

Both players opened their boxes and pulled out the contents.

Ruby looked at the package of cards and a small folded up pamphlet which read "Quick Guide Reference".

She quickly pulled apart the package material and looked through all the cards.

Jaune decided to instead look at the reference guide to learn how to play again.

"So if I remember correctly, this is somewhat of a resource management game." He said, reading on the steps of how to cast spells and creatures.

"Like GoR?" Ruby asked , looking over at the art of all the cards.

"Kinda, but instead of multiple resources its just this thing called mana."

"Well I'm sure we can figure it out as we go along." Ruby said, as she began to shuffle her cards.

"Alright, so first it says we need to determine who goes...well first." Jaune scratched the back of his head at his awkward wording.

"Dice roll?" Ruby suggested, pulling out two six-sided dice.

Ruby rolled her dice, into a one and a three. She gave a small frown at the result. Jaune picked them up and rolled double fours.

"Looks like I'm going first." Jaune said, giving Ruby a small smile.

Ruby sulked as she looked at her guide. "So next we both have to draw seven cards."

Both players drew their cards, before Jaune pulled out two d20 dice from the bag and placed one in front of Ruby.

"This is our starting life total, once it goes to zero, that player loses." He said and moved his next to his deck.

Ruby nodded and placed hers in a similar location. Jaune looked at the guide and began to read aloud.

"Now its the beginning phase, which included the Untap, Upkeep, and Draw steps." Jaune then looked down at his empty board "Well since I don't have anything on the field to untap, I guess I'll go straight to drawing."

"Hold up!" Ruby exclaimed, before pointing at the top of his guide. "It says here that the player who takes the first turn won't draw a card that turn."

Jaune looked at the rule."Huh, so it does." He shrugged and moved on to the next part of the turn. "Okay, so now we are at the Main phase." Jaune said, as he looked back at his hand.

"So it says to play down a land card, which...ah here it is." Jaune played down a white card with a picture of a plains on top and a white sun symbol on the bottom.

"That's your land cards?" Ruby said, before looking back at hers in hand. "Yours looks way nicer then mine!" Ruby pouted and glared at Jaune.

"Hey, it's not my fault you picked the red one." Jaune said, holding his hands up in defense.

"Hmmmm true" Ruby nodded, accepting his point.

"Well, next it says I can cast a spell if I can pay for it." Jaune looked through his hand, before finding a card that only showed one white symbol.

"Well look at that. I'll cast a Rustwing Falcon." Jaune tapped his Plains card and put down a creature card.

"Ugh, you already have a creature?" Ruby complained, knowing that in GoR, having creatures early can be a very annoying.

"Yep, and it has an ability called Flying." Jaune said, quickly reading what it meant. "It says, this creature cannot be blocked except by creatures with flying or reach."

"What!? That's so not fair!"

"Well if it makes you feel better, I can't attack you the first turn its played." Jaune pointed to the next part of the guide that said Combat Phase. "Well I guess I'm done, its your turn now."

Ruby scowled as she drew her first card. She began to read the card before a smirk crossed her face.

"Okay, so first I play a land card." Ruby played a red card with a giant mountain as the picture, and a red flame at the bottom.

"Starting to see what you mean by mine being better." Jaune snarked, unimpressed with the art on Ruby's land. She ignored his comment and moved on.

"Next I will cast Shock!" She said proudly and tapped her land to play a new card.

Jaune picked the card up and read out loud. "Deals 2 damage to any target." Then, his eyes widened at what she was hitting.

"Not the bird!" he said, sorrow echoing in his voice.

"Yes the bird!" Ruby said, gleeful that she no longer had to worry about the pesky creature. "Then I will pass the turn."

"My vengeance will be swift and cruel Ruby." Jaune proceed to go to his turn. He untapped his one land and drew his next card. Jaune looked through his hand a gave a sigh of defeat. "Land and pass turn."

"Swift vengeance indeed." Ruby mocked as she untapped her lands and drew her card. Ruby smiled as she analyzed her hand.

"I'll be playing another land, then casting a Kargan Dragonrider."

Jaune frowned and looked at the card. "Hmm, its has two power and toughness, and has flying if you have a dragon."

"Yep! Its gonna ride my dragon to victory!" Ruby yelled defiantly.

"If you get one" Jaune replied with a small smirk.

"Yeah, Yeah, details." Ruby said, waving her hand dismissively. "I'm done."

Jaune rolled his eyes as he drew his card. "Well I'm gonna play another land and cast Loxodon Line Breaker."

"Huh, that's a big elephant" Ruby said, looking at the art.

"Yep, and gonna pass the turn."

Ruby nodded and drew. She frowned at the next card and played a mountain. "So now to combat." She said, and looked at her guide.

"It says first I have to declare attackers." Ruby proceeded to tap her creature. "Then you declare blockers."

Jaune looked at his guide, then thought for a moment. "No blocks." he said calmly.

Ruby raised her eyebrow at that, but shrugged. "Alright, so now damage is dealt."

Jaune nodded and moved his d20 down to 18.

"And with that I pass the turn." Ruby said, smirking at gaining first blood on her opponent.

Jaune drew his card and gave a small growl. "Well I don't have another land to play." He dejected "But I can play this card, Knight's Pledge." Jaune tapped two of his lands and played the card on top of his creature.

"What does it do?" Ruby asked, confused by his action.

"It's an aura card, so it says to attach to a creature. And it gives the creature plus two to both its power and toughness." Jaune replied, giving back Ruby a small smile.

Ruby's eyes widened at this. "So your creature is now..."

"A 5/4 creature"

Ruby gulped at this, knowing what was coming next.

"And now, I'll attack you with my creature Ruby." Jaune smirked as he tapped his creature.

Ruby frowned and moved down her life total to 15. "My turn I assume?" Ruby asked, hoping to draw something to kill this large threat.

"Yep, hope you got something good." Jaune said, leaning back a bit in bliss of Ruby's torment.

Ruby drew her next card and gave a long sigh as she played her next land. "I'm gonna pass the turn here." She knew she couldn't afford to attack as she'll need her creature to defend against the giant elephant of doom.

Jaune drew his card and smiled. "Well thankfully I got my next land." He said, as he placed it down.

"Yay..." Ruby mumbled, hoping that his next card wasn't scary.

"Next I'll be casting this Dwarven Priest." He said, playing the card down. "When this enters the battlefield, I gain life equal to the number of creatures I control."

Ruby groaned at this, as she watched the damage she dealt earlier get healed.

"And now to combat, swing for five." Jaune said, happy at this new turn of events.

Ruby looked down at her board and gave a defeated sigh. "I block with my Dragonrider" Ruby then moved her card into the graveyard.

"After that I pass the turn."

Ruby grumbled under her breath and drew. After a minor debate of card choices she made her play. "Fifth land, and I cast a Fire Elemental".

Jaune looked over and raised an eyebrow. "Well it certainly looks cool." he admitted, but internally panicked a bit by its 5/4 statline. Jaune untapped and drew his next card. "Hey another land, awesome." he said placing it down. "Next, I think I'll play a second Loxodon Line Breaker."

Ruby sighed as she watched her opponents board grew wider. Jaune paused to think for a moment. "Pass turn."

"Really?" Ruby said, surprised he didn't attack with his creatures.

"Yep." Replied Jaune aware of the confusion. Jaune was worried about losing his best creature to the Fire Elemental, and unsure if Ruby will drop another one, making it impossible to recover from.

Ruby shrugged and went with her turn. Ruby saw her next card and her eyes lit up. "Aw yeah!" she exclaimed, placing down her sixth land and tapping it all. "Casting Volcanic Dragon!"

Jaune whimpered when he saw the card. "4/4 and flying? And what does Haste do?"

Ruby looked at the guide. "It means it can attack the turn its played."

"Oh no."

"Yep! Attack for four!" Ruby cheered, happy that the game was finally turning around.

Jaune sighed and dropped his health down to 16, then started his turn. Jaune played another land, and then considered his options.

After a bit of time, he came to a decision. "Okay, moving to combat, swing with everything."

Ruby perked up at the word everything, and looked at the board. She frowned at the incoming damage and decided on a profitable trade.

"I'll block with my Fire elemental against your non-aura Loxodon." She moved her elemental against the unbuffed elephant. Jaune nodded and moved the elephant to the graveyard.

"So that's going to be seven damage to you Ruby." Jaune said with more confidence in his voice.

Ruby pouted and moved her life down to 8. Jaune looked at his hand again. "I cast two Orekos Swiftclaws" he said, tapping four of his lands for the two creatures. "Pass the turn." Jaune said, confident that he could kill Ruby in the next attack.

Ruby gulped as she compared he board of two the massive board of five Jaune had.

She inhaled deeply and drew her next card.

Ruby looked at her card, then back to her hand and board. She proceeded to start counting on her fingers, then she gave Jaune a wide smile.

Jaune was unnerved by this, knowing this wouldn't end well.

"First I'll play my seventh land." she said, placing onto the field. "Next I'll cast Radiating Lightning! Which deals three damage to you and one to each creature you control!" she said happily.

Jaune looked back at his board with mild panic. "Ugh well my cats are dead now." he said, moving his brand new creatures into the graveyard and docking his health to 13.

"Finally, I cast Trumpet Blast, giving all my creatures 2 more power!" she said, happy to let him count the damage for himself.

"Okay...so thats makes it seven and six...oh no." He said with realization that he was about to take lethal damage.

"ATTACK WITH EVERYTHING!" she yelled, tapping both creatures and sending them into the red zone.

Jaune looked at his hand for any sort of answer, but none showed itself.

"Welp...I'm dead" he said sadly, hanging his head in shame.

Ruby jumped off her chair and did a small celebratory dance.

Jaune looked up and gave Ruby a small smile at her dance. "Well that was fun, good game." he said, giving her a handshake.

Ruby smiled and took his hand. They both quickly packed up all the items and went back to the counter.

"Here's your dice back." Jaune said to the man at the counter.

"Thanks, sounds like you two had a lot of fun." The man said, smiling at the two's antics.

"Yep! I got to crush him with dragons!" Ruby cheered.

"Well if you want I can give you guys the other 3 decks." The man said, handing out the larger box.

"Really?" Jaune asked, unsure of what to do with such a gift.

"Yeah, like I said its mostly for new players, and we got a bunch of them still." he said, handing the box to Jaune.

"Thank you sir!" Both Ruby and Jaune said. "It's no problem, and call me Anwic, not sir." He said, with a joking frown on his face.

Ruby and Jaune nodded and waved farewell as they left the store.

* * *

"That was a lot of fun." Ruby said, as they walked down the streets of Vale once again.

"Yeah, I definitely want a rematch though." Jaune said with a smile.

Ruby responded with her own "Sure if you want to lose again."

"Oh it is on." Jaunr replied, before looking at his scroll. "Uh Ruby, what time does that gun store close at?"

Ruby froze in place, before grabbing Jaune's scroll out of his hand.

"Oh no! We got to hurry!" she yelled, then proceed to use her semblance down the main road.

Jaune blinked for a moment before he realized what had happened and gave chase. "Hey Ruby! Wait up!"

* * *

 **AN: Thank you for reading. Hope you enjoy the future chaos and hilarity.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Sibling Rivalry**

* * *

It had been a quiet day in the dorm room of team RWBY. Weiss had spent a large chunk of the day going over her notes from Professor Port's class. Blake had spent the day switching between reading her favorite book and napping. Even Yang was not as rambunctious as usual, deciding instead to lie on her bed playing games on her scroll.

"We're back!" Ruby yelled, kicking the door open with a few bags in tow. Jaune whimpered behind her, holding a multitude of boxes stacking a bit over his head.

The three jumped at the actions of their team leader. Weiss was the first to compose herself. "Ruby, what on remnant are you doing making this much noise? Furthermore, how much stuff did you buy!?" she exclaimed, shocked by the sheer amount of items both of them were carrying.

"Just the usual stuff. Bullets, cartridges, extra ammo pouches, wrenches,..."

"They had a sale at the store, didn't they?" Yang said from her bunk, smirking at her little sister.

"Uhh...maybe..." Ruby said softly, slowing shrinking at the judgmental gazes of her teammates.

"We're gonna have to find a place to put them all." Blake said, putting her book on her bed.

"Can someone please take these? My legs feel like Nora's been playing with them with her hammer." Jaune complained, his legs shaking.

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Just put it in front of the closet for now." Weiss pointed at the closet closest to Ruby's and her bunk.

"Thanks Weiss." Jaune grunted, then slowly shimmied the boxes over before dropping it all in front with a loud thud. "Ahhhh that's better."

Ruby giggled at her friend's comments. "Well, thanks again for helping."

"It's not problem. If you ever need a pack mule again just ask" Jaune said, before giving Ruby smile and a thumbs up.

"Would that offer happen to apply for all of us?" Yang said, smirking from her bunk.

Jaune paled in fear. "Well look at that I think Ren is screaming for help see ya!" he yelled before running out of the dorm.

Yang laughed at his exit. She has way too much fun teasing him. Weiss sighed before looking at the boxes. She noticed one of them wasn't from the same store.

"Ruby, what in that box?"

Ruby turned around as saw the box. She smiled and picked it out of the pile, and opened it up. All three looked over to their leader, curious at the new item that she bought.

"Ta da!" Ruby exclaimed, holding up her red deck box as a trophy.

Silence befell all three of them, followed by confused looks.

"What is it?" Blake asked, wondering what could such a small box have to gain that sort of reaction from Ruby

"It's my deck of Magic The Gathering cards. We got a bunch of decks for free from a hobby store in Vale!" Ruby cheered.

"This store was just giving out free cards to people?" Yang asked, equally confused by her sister's actions as Blake was.

"Sort of? It's beginner decks that they give out so people can learn the game." Ruby clarified

"So is this why you two were out so late?" Weiss asked, eyebrow raised as she crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Ummm...yes?" Ruby brought her deck down and tried to hide behind it from Weiss' cold stare.

"Oh lighten up Weiss cream, she wasn't out that late." Yang said, jumping down from her bed.

Weiss groaned from the nickname "Very well, I suppose your right." Weiss then sat back at her desk and continued to look at her notes. Blake followed suit with her book. Yang walked up to the box and saw the different colors inside.

"Huh quite a lot of decks." Yang said, pulling out the green deck.

"Yep! Wanna play?" Ruby asked, holding her deck up to Yang in a challenging pose

Yang smirked at her sister. "Alright, shouldn't be too hard if you learned it."

"Hey! I resent that!" Ruby said, puffing her cheeks out.

Yang gave a hearty laugh, then pulled out a small fold table and placed it in the middle of the room.

"Alright so how do you play this game?" Yang asked, taking a seat and pulling the contents of the box out.

Ruby went to her drawer and pulled out a few six sided dice. Then went to Weiss's deck to grab a piece of paper and a pen. She took a seat at the opposite end of the table.

"Well it's a little bit complicated. So it involves this resource called mana and..."

* * *

"Alright I think I get most of it." Yang said, taking into account the information Ruby and the guide gave her as she looked at her deck.

"Yea it's a kinda hard to grasp at first, but you get used to it fairly quickly." Ruby said, shuffling her deck.

"Sounds like it." Yang nodded "But either way I'm sure I'll win."

"Bring it sis!" Ruby smirked, and rolled her two dice into a five and a four.

Yang whistled and rolled her dice, into a four and a three.

"Looks like I'm going first." Ruby said, drawing her hand while Yang followed suit.

Yang looked down at her starting hand and frowned. "Hey Ruby, what do the rules say about this?" she said, showing a hand full of creatures and a few spells, but no lands.

"Ummm." Ruby pulled out the guide and began to read. "It says here if a playing isn't happy with their starting hand, they can do something called a...mull-i-gen?"

"A what?" Yang took the rules and looked "It's called a Mulligan. So I can shuffle my hand back into the deck and re-draw my hand with one less card." Yang groaned "Well that sucks."

Ruby took her rules page back and continued to read. "Well it says you can do something called 'Scry 1' if you mulliganed."

"Whats that?"

"So look at the top card of your deck, then decide to keep it on top or move it to the bottom of your deck."

Yang hummed. "Well I guess it makes it a bit more fair then." She proceeded to shuffle her deck again and drew six cards, then looked at the top card. "I'll keep that card on top."

"Alright! I'll start us off!" Ruby exclaimed "Mountain and go." she played her land card and motioned Yang to take her turn.

Yang nodded and drew her card. She took a look at her hand and gave Ruby a smirk. "I play my own land, and cast Llanowar elves." Yang played down her Forest card followed by a new creature.

Ruby picked up the new card and read aloud "Tap to add a green to your mana pool." Her eyes widened. "Wait that means you have more mana then me!"

"Yep, pretty cool huh?" Yang said, giving Ruby a thumbs up "Well I'm done with my turn."

Ruby grumbled a few choice words. "I'll play another land and cast my Kargan Dragonrider." She played both cards down and passed the turn.

Yang slightly frowned at Ruby's creature. Since it was larger then her 1/1 elf she couldn't start swinging at her opponents life total. "Well I guess I'm sticking with the mana plan." Yang played down a second land. "Casting a second Llanowar elf."

Ruby slumped, knowing now that Yang had twice the amount of mana she does. "Ugh this is so unfair."

Yang smirked. "Ah don't worry sis, I'll make sure your defeat is real quick."

Ruby scowled and drew her next card. She re-read the card and started cackling. Weiss looked over her shoulder with an annoyed look on her face. "Ruby will you calm down already!"

"Nope! I'll play a land and cast Radiating Lightning!" Ruby cheered as she slammed the card onto the field.

Yang picked up the card and read it's effect. "Deals three damage to target player, then one damage to each...creature that... player controls..." Yang's eyes slowly turned red as she finished reading.

"Uh...Yang are you gonna be okay?" Ruby said, slowly reaching for a nearby pillow to shield herself from her sister's incoming wrath.

Yang, realizing she was scaring Ruby, closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Her eyes became a familiar lilac when she reopened them.

"Yeah, sorry got kinda...REALLY...annoyed with that play." Yang said, trying her best to calm down.

"Well...Swing for two and pass." Ruby quickly tapped her creature, then hid behind her pillow.

Yang's eye twitched, then grabbed the pen and wrote down her new life total before going to her turn. Yang looked at her hand and gave a small sigh. "Land, and casting Highland Game."

Ruby looked over her pillow shield. "Aw, that looks like such a nice deer."

"Yep, and this will game me some life when you inevitably kill it." Yang seethed

Ruby gulped and quickly grabbed her cards to think of her next play. "Uhhh, I'll cast Onakke Ogre and pass turn." Ruby chose not attack, partially to not lose her creature, also avoid Yang's wrath.

Yang took another deep breath and started her turn. "Well this helps a bit, land and cast a Giant Spider."

Ruby looked at the new card and gave a look of disgust. "Ewwww! Normal spiders are bad enough!"

"Yep! And this one is gonna gobble you up!" Yang smirked, wiggling her fingers at Ruby

Ruby stuck her tongue out, then drew a card. She thought for a bit about her next play before deciding on one. "I'll cast a Fire Elemental!" she said, dropping the large creature onto the battlefield.

Yang frowned at this new threat. "Ugh that's a pretty good size creature."

Ruby nodded and surveyed her board. She did want to start docking Yang's life total down, but she knew her sister would most likely kill her creatures by blocking. Looking back at her hand, she decided she could wait for a better opportunity and passed her turn.

Yang looked down at her hand with a frown. She had a few creatures left, but unfortunately couldn't cast her bigger ones yet. "I'll settle with stalling for now and cast a Bristling Boar."

Ruby hummed at the new creature, knowing it wasn't a threat at all. She drew her next card and frowned. "Well It's time to shift gears now. I'll cast Lightning strike on your boar."

Yang gave an annoyed sigh. "Your deck is really annoying Ruby." she said, as she moved her boar into the grave.

Ruby shrugged in response. "Attack with the elemental!" she cheered, tapping it down to attack

Yang grunted and looked at her board. She contemplated her next move for a bit, then checked her guide book. After reading a small section on Combat she gave Ruby a smirk. "I'll use both my creatures to block your elemental."

Ruby looked at her sister with confusion. "You can do that?"

"Yep, you can block with as many creatures as you want, though the attacking player gets to designate how much damage is dealt to each creature."

Ruby counted the damage up and gave an annoyed sigh. "Well it's just enough to kill your two, but my elemental is dead."

Yang nodded in agreement and both of them moved their creatures to the graveyard. Yang untapped and drew her next card. Annoyed it wasn't another land she decided to play a new card. "I'll cast Ursine Champion."

Ruby looked at the card. "Ugh, giving your creature +3/+3 is pretty good."

"Yea, too bad I can't use it."

Ruby shrugged and moved to her turn. She looked at the new spell in her hand, but knew it wasn't the right time to play it yet. "I'll just put a land and pass the turn."

Yang drew her card, then her eyes flashed red for a moment. "Excuse me for a bit." she said stiffly, then grabbed a pillow before going into the bathroom.

All three remaining members looked at the bathroom door for moment "Is...she going to be okay?" Weiss said, slightly concerned about Yang's well being. Before Ruby could answer a loud muffled scream could be heard. This went on for a few minutes, with each other member looking at each other with growing concern. "I think we should get someone." Blake said, worried that her partner might pass out.

Yang reopened the door giving a relaxed sigh hugging her pillow. "Ahhh that feels way better." she said, then took her seat back.

"Ummm okay...anything else for your turn." Ruby said, hiding behind her pillow shield once again. Both Weiss and Blake stared at Yang with worried expressions on their faces.

"Hmm? Oh yea I pass the turn." Yang said calmly

"A bit mana short?" Ruby joked

"HA...HA...HA..."Yang laughed creepily.

Ruby gave her sister a worried look, before drawing her card. "Well I cast this Hostile Minotaur. It has haste so I swing for three."

Yang nodded "No blocks." She said, and wrote down her life total to 12. She then drew her next card and gave a massive sigh of relief. "Finally! Alright now for my sixth land, and then I'll cast Colossal Dreadmaw!" She exclaimed excitedly and slammed the creature on the table.

Ruby looked down at the new creature, then gave Yang a worried look. Both Blake and Weiss noted the look, and watched at the game at hand.

"Then I'll swing with my Ursine Champion!" Yang declared, hoping to finally do some damage. Ruby gave a quick nod and wrote her new life total at 18.

Ruby gulped and tapped her mana for her final spell in hand. "I cast Fiery Finish of your Dreadmaw then I swing with everything!" She said, quickly performing the necessary actions before ducking under the table in fear.

Weiss and Blake both read the card, then followed Ruby's actions. Weiss leaped under her desk, using her chair as cover. Blake meanwhile grabbed one of her pillows and used it as a shield.

Yang gave a small hum. "Alright, going down to 3 life." Yang then wrote her life total down and proceeded to her turn.

All three members looked at Yang with completely shock. "Yang... are you okay?" Blake asked, looking over her pillow shield.

"Yeah? Why'd you ask?" Yang said, confused about her team's reactions.

"Well we were just expecting you to...ya know..." Ruby said, eyes peaking over the table.

"Blow up our dorm." Weiss chimed in, still hiding under her desk.

"Nah, I'm not mad at that." Yang smirked.

"You aren't?" All three replied, slowly moving out of their respective covers.

"Nope! For you see, it was all part of my plan!" Yang said proudly with a large smile on her face.

Weiss raised her eyebrow. "This must have been some hell of a plan if it involved losing your best creature." She said dryly.

"You see, I figured you had some kind of way to kill my monster in hand. So that creature was bait the entire time!." Yang continued, ignoring Weiss' comments.

"And the nine damage to you?" Blake said, unconvinced as well that this was all some sort of plan.

"It's to lure Ruby into a false sense of security!" Yang finished, proud of her ingenious plan.

"But, if your Dreadmaw was just bait, whats your real plan?" Ruby said, a bit scared of what could be bigger then a giant dinosaur.

"First I'll draw my card." Yang drew her card. "Oh...huh."

"What, did your master plan not work out too well?" Weiss snarked.

"It's not that, but this made things a lot easier!" Yang gleefully replied "I get my seventh land and cast Ghastbark Twins!"

The other three look over the new card that was played. "This creature can block...an additional creature each combat." Ruby said, her eyes widening at the realization that she couldn't attack anymore.

"Yep! With this I can now block every creature you got Ruby!" Yang cheered, finally feeling safe from the damage.

Ruby groaned, but stayed confident knowing she had a few creatures with haste to mount over Yang's blockade. She drew her card, and solemnly played a land "Pass the turn." she said sadly

Yang drew her next card and smirked. "Now for my real creature! I cast Aggressive Mammoth and my Wall of Vines!" Yang slammed both creatures onto the battlefield

Ruby gasped in horror at the size of her new creature. "An 8/8!? How am I supposed to compete with that!" she yelled in terror

"Huh, looks like things changed around really quick." Blake said.

"Ruby! Calm down! Remember what I said about freaking out!" Weiss said, holding onto Ruby's shoulders and shaking her

"Juuuuuusssstttt Dooooonnnnnnn't Doooooo IIIIIIIttttttttt!" Ruby yelled back, head still shaking from Weiss' antics.

"Good! Now go and beat her!" Weiss said, letting go of Ruby.

Ruby shook off her dizziness and refocused. She took a deep breath and drew her card. She quickly frowned and played another land.

Yang took that at it was her turn. She drew her card and smirked. "All right! Now I attack with everything!" she said, turning everything except her Wall of Vines sideways.

Ruby looked over at Yang's board. She quickly counted the damage that would be coming to her, including the potential of the hidden +3,+3 ability from the Ursine Champion. "Alright! I'll block your Aggressive Mammoth with my Hostile Minotaur. Even with your pump from Ursine Champion, It's only seventeen damage!." She said proudly.

Weiss gave Ruby a small smile. She was so proud of Ruby taking into account of everything on the board and maximizing her chances of winning.

"Hmmm, Well your almost right Ruby." Yang said, grinning from ear to ear. "Except you didn't expect this! I cast Titanic Growth at instant speed!" She then played the card on top of her Mammoth."This gives my creature +4,+4. Making that lethal damage!"

"Noooo!" Ruby screamed in horror, before collapsing onto the floor in sadness.

Yang cackled in delight at her opponent's defeat. Blake rolled her eye's at her friend's antics and grabbed her book. Weiss gave a long sigh and returned to her desk.

"Good game Ruby." Yang said, holding her hand out to her sister.

Ruby sat back up, and shook her hand. "Yeah good game, though I want a rematch!"

"Sure! But I'm sure I'll 'Trample' over your chances of winning!"

All three other members groaned painfully.

"Dammit Yang..."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: A Battle of Wits**

* * *

A numbness encompassed Blake. As she laid on her bed and stared at the bottom bunk of her partner, she could feel her brain slowly shutting down into a low buzz. She could barely feel her extremities, and the only noise that could be heard is the slow beat of her heart. It wasn't due to drugs or poison that caused her semi-comatose state, but something far more insidious. Something that wracked the population of Remnant for centuries, even millennia.

Blake Belladonna was bored.

A horrifying emotion of be sure. One that could cripple even a member of the greatest team in Beacon (Citation Needed). She rattled through her brain, attempting to find any source of purpose. Any homework to do? She had already finished all her projects days ago. Studying perhaps? She had just came back from the library from doing so. Well, attempted to at least. Reading her favorite story? That usually worked. But she finished reading it yesterday, and she knew better then to immediately re-read a book like that.

Blake sighed as she finally moved up from her bed to scour the dorm for entertainment. All the other members were still at the library. Weiss, seeing both the scores from Ruby and Yang, decided to force the two members of team RWBY into a study session.

Blake looked over to her book case, finding any sort of book she hadn't read into the ground. She flipped though book after book, page after page. But all that was found was apathy from her collection. _Maybe a bit of cleaning will help_. She thought, hoping it would work as a distraction at least.

Blake began to sort her scattered book back onto the shelves, moved Yang's magazines back onto her bed, even sorted some of Ruby's numerous tools back into the closet. As she put away some other miscellaneous items back into the closet, she looked over to the nearby desk. Blake saw the cards that Ruby got scattered all over her desk. Most likely still there from the previous night when Jaune came over to play. Blake decided to clean up some of the mess and started picking them up. She looked over one of the more blank cards and noticed a few sentences at the bottom. "Halana grew brambles to create a barricade around our camp, hoping it would keep the wolves out. That was a mistake for which we almost paid dearly."

Blake rose an eyebrow. A story attached to a card? It was quite a surprise, but a welcome one. She imagined a group of hunters, barely buying time for a mage to conjure a wall of vines. But the wolves jumped over such a small barricade, and attacked the hunters with the might of nature herself. Blake blinked, shaking her self from her imagination. She looked over the cards again and picked out another one. "The clerics prayed for salvation. The soldiers prayed for victory. Both prayers were answered."

Her imagination ran wild. A darken sky. A large battlefield, all sides were surrounded by enemies. The outer wall of their defenses held strong by soldiers, wreaked by fatigue from the long siege. Inside were the clerics, praying at an altar of a angel. Suddenly, bright rays of light broke through the clouds. Figures of people with wings of birds flying down from the clouds, wielding weapons of light. They flew down into their enemies, raining down vengeance.

Blake gave a happy sigh, as her imagination fell back down to reality. She picked up all of the cards and dropped them onto her bed, finding a new way to break her boredom.

* * *

Weiss opened the door with a loud sigh. She marched straight to her bed and collapsed face first into her pillow. Blake looked over from her bed, cards scattered across it.

"So how was the study group?" Blake asked, knowing the answer was not going to be pleasant.

Weiss flipped over, staring at the bottom of Ruby's bed. "About as well as can be expected." She replied, attempting to be as diplomatic as possible.

Blake smirked at her friend's attempt. "That bad?"

"Ugh. It's like attempting to teach rocks how to swim." Weiss groaned, holding her face in frustration. "So much time wasted, and so much things need to be done still."

Weiss stood back from her bed. She pulled out a series of books from her bag near her desk and slammed them onto the table. Blake jumped a the noise. She looked at her friend with concern. Blake could feel the stress radiating from Weiss. She put the cards back onto the bed and walked over to the desk.

"Are you still studying?" Blake asked behind her. She saw the numerous books laid out in a random order with Weiss's notebook in the middle, filled with notes and graphs. Blake's concern grew as she looked at Weiss.

"Yes, I've spent far too much time goofing off. Now I must focus on my own studies." Weiss said curtly, barely acknowledging Blake as she scanned though her numerous books, sorting out all the relevant information.

"I doubt I would call helping other's study 'goofing off'" Blake replied, using her hands for finger quotes.

Weiss ignored her and continued to study.

Blake gave a deep sigh. She knew how Weiss could be when she was in study mode. But she was very concerned about her growing stress. Blake steeled her determination and grabbed the chair, and pulled it away from the desk.

Weiss yelped as she was dragged away from her desk. "Blake! What in the hell are you doing!"

Blake spun the chair and stared into Weiss's eyes. "Weiss, you need to take an actual break." She said, determined to help her friend.

Weiss was caught off guard by this. If it was anyone else she would have pushed them away and continued. But for Blake to do this, for her to act out in such a manner, it must have seemed quite serious that she was overworking herself.

Weiss gave a small huff. "Very well then, what do you recommend?"

Blake smiled, happy that her friend would see reason. "Well, we could play this." She said pulling out the black box of Magic cards.

Weiss looked down at the box, then gave Blake a deadpan stare. "You must be joking."

Blake shrugged at Weiss's stare. "I found some level of enjoyment from these as well. Did you know that this game has a story? It all takes place in a series of worlds and..."

Weiss gave a long sigh. "I'm going back to studying now." She said, before moving her chair back to the desk.

Blake frowned at Weiss's disinterest. She really did want Weiss to relax a bit, and playing a game seemed to be a good plan. Blake thought for a moment of a way to bait Weiss to play, before coming to a realization. _Gonna take a idea out of Yang's playbook_.

"Well I guess it makes sense you don't want to play, seeing how you'll probably just lose."

Weiss froze at this. She slowly turned around and gave Blake an annoyed glare. "I'm sorry, but I think I misheard you. Can you please repeat that?"

 _Hook, line, and sinker_. Blake thought, knowing she had to prey on Weiss's pride. "I'm just stating the truth. I bet even Ruby or Jaune could beat you at this simple game." She said nonchalantly.

Weiss snapped her pencil. The idea that those two dunces would ever best her at anything would be a massive blow to her pride. To say it out loud practically was the greatest insult to her. "You, me, game, now." She barely uttered though the sheer rage.

Blake smirked and placed the box of decks on the table. "You're on."

Weiss looked into the box and picked out the blue deck. She opened the packaging and flipped thought the rules with immense reading speed. Weiss then proceeded to open her package of cards and began shuffling.

Blake pulled out two six-sided dice from the desk. "Roll highest?" Weiss nodded, and Blake made her roll, getting a five and a six.

Weiss frowned at her opponent's roll. "Well I'll just let you go first." She said, slowly regaining her composure.

Blake rolled her eyes, and drew her opening hand. She wasn't the largest fan of this hand. Only having two lands and a few higher cost cards. But she did have two one-cost cards which meant she had a strong early game. _Well, as long as I can draw some lands withing the first few turns I'll be fine_. "I'll keep."

Weiss looked over her hand as well. She was quite happy with this hand, having enough lands to cast all but one of her cards. _I could hardly think of a better way to start the game!_ "I will also keep this hand."

Blake tapped the bottom of her chin, thinking of which creature to play. _I should probably start with the Diregraf Ghoul. Since it comes into play tapped, I can save my Grasping Scoundrel for next turn as a blocker._ "I'll play a land and a Diregraf Ghoul. It comes into play tapped." She played both cards and tapped them down.

Weiss frowned at her play. Having the Ghoul come into play tapped meant nothing on the first turn. Weiss drew her own card, thankfully she at least also had a play on turn one. "I'll play my island, then cast a Mist-Cloaked Herald." She played the land and caster her merfolk creature.

Blake looked at the card. She was quite impressed with the beautiful artwork of the fish warrior. However, she was a bit more intimidated by the ability that allowed the creature to not be blocked. Having a source of damage the couldn't be stopped was not something she wanted Weiss to have. Blake drew her card and was quite happy to get a third land drawn. "I'll play a second land and cast my Grasping Scoundrel." She played both cards, then gave Weiss a smirk. "I'll attack with my Ghoul." She said, tapping the creature.

Weiss thought about blocking for a moment, but decided it would be a waste of a creature to do so. "I'll take two." Weiss proceeded to write her new life total at 18. She drew her next card. She was minor impressed with its abilities, but less so with the large cost of five mana. "I'll play my second land as well, followed by a Wall of Mist." She played both cards, happy to now have a creature defending her.

Blake hummed, such a creature wasn't really much of a threat, more of an annoyance really. "I shall now swing for one." Weiss said, attacking with her merfolk. Blake acknowledged this by writing her life to 19.

Blake took her turn by drawing a card. She had to re-read the card once before looking at her board. Knowing it probably wouldn't make much of a decision, she made her play. "I'll cast Infernal Scarring onto my Ghoul. It'll give it +2,0 and when this creature dies, I get to draw a card." Blake placed the enchantment spell under her creature. "I'll swing for six."

Weiss smirked, seeing that even with the increased power given by the enchantment, it still didn't have enough to kill her wall. "I'll block you Ghoul with my wall, then take two damage."

Weiss drew her card, then paused to think of a plan. She saw two options for herself. One was to play another creature and swing with her merfolk again. Another was to hold back mana for a instant card in her hand. _One is a safer play, but I do need to start building a board._ After a bit of debate she decided to start increasing her board state. "I'll cast a Tolarian Scholar. Then pass the turn."

Blake was a bit surprised Weiss didn't attack that turn. But she did realize that she might end up using her merfolk to trade attackers with her scoundrel. Blake drew her next card and frowned, seeing that she was going to miss a land drop this turn. "I'll go straight to combat and swing for six again."

Weiss, after seeing Blake miss a land drop, thought about how she wanted to block. _I could stall some more with my wall, but this would be a good time to kill off some of her creatures. Especially since I doubt she'll be able to cast a creature this turn._ "I'll block your Scoundrel with my Herald, and I'll use my Scholar to block your Ghoul."

Blake was shocked by these turn of events. She had a feeling her Scoundrel was going to die, but for Weiss to actively sacrifice her board wasn't in her plans. "Well, because my Ghoul died with my Infernal Scarring, I draw a card." Blake drew her card, and immediately played a land. Weiss frowned at her opponent's luck of drawing a land off her effect. "Now, I'll cast Gravedigger. It has the ability when it enters the battlefield, I can return a creature card from my graveyard to my hand." Blake smirked,

Weiss growled at Blake's play. She had completely negated the loss of her attack and instead grained more resources to fight her with. "I'll choose to regain my Diregraff Ghoul and pass the turn." Weiss drew her card and simply played a land before passing.

Blake played the new land she drew and contemplated her next step. _Let's see if I can kill of this wall_. "I'll attack with my Gravedigger."

Weiss was a bit wary. She knew Blake wasn't foolish enough to attack with no purpose, but she was willing to wait for her to make her play. "I'll block with my Wall."

"Before damage, I'll cast Strangling Spores. This will give your creature -3,-3 until end of turn." Blake tapped the four mana and casted her spell, targeting the wall.

Weiss smirked. "I knew you had some sort of plan, but you're not the only one with spells. I'll cast my Befuddle. It will give your gravedigger -4,0 until end of turn, and I get to draw a card."

Blake gave a small defeated sigh at her own foolishness. She could see for herself that she casted her spell too quickly, and should have waited until her second main phase to cast it. "I'll cast my Diregraff Ghoul and pass the turn."

Weiss drew her next card. "I'll simply cast my Air Elemental and pass the turn." Tapping all of her mana to cast the large elemental.

Blake looked at the card. She quickly realized she could not let this creature live, due to the constant four damage it would be doing every turn. "I'll cast Lich's Caress, Destroying your Elemental and gaining myself three life." Weiss frowned at the loss of her new creature, and Blake wrote her new life total at 22. "I'll then attack for four." Weiss motioned to block with her wall, and wrote down 14 as her life total.

Weiss looked at her hand. _Well, she just used two removal spells, it would seem unlikely she would have a third._ "I'll cast my Frilled Sea Serpent." She said smugly, dropping the large creature onto the battlefield.

Blake's eyes widened at the new creature. The stat line alone was intimidating at a large 4/6, but the ability to pay seven mana for unblock-ability made it a very real threat. She had to draw into a new removal spell or she was done for.

Blake drew her card. While not a removal spell, it wasn't the worst card to get. "I'll cast Skymarch Bloodletter."

Weiss was a little annoyed. The creature itself was only a 2/2 flier, but the one life drain meant it would take longer for her to kill Blake. Especially with the difference in life being 13 to 23.

Weiss moved to her turn after Blake passed. She dropped her seventh land and though about her options. _I could make my creature unblockable. But...it may work better for me if she does trade away all her creatures to kill mine._ "I'll attack with my Serpent."

Blake thought for a bit about mass blocking the creature. However, the nagging feeling about the two cards in Weiss's hand made her a bit paranoid about losing all of them for nothing. Plus, she had a decent amount of life to lose. "I won't block." Blake said, and wrote her new life total to 19.

"Next, I shall cast two creatures. A second Tolarian Scholar and a Snapping Drake." Weiss happily dropped both creatures onto the battlefield. Blake groaned at the larger force Weiss was gathering, but was glad her opponent had no more cards in her hand.

Blake drew her card, then gave an evil smirk toward Weiss. "Well that's convenient. I'll play my sixth land, then cast Gravewaker." She tapped all her mana to cast the beautiful bird spirit.

Weiss picked up the card to read it. _Seven mana to return a creature card from your graveyard to the battlefield!?_ She mentally shrieked. The value the Blake could get from this card was astronomical. It no longer matted if she traded away her creatures as blockers due to the self recursion. Also, it was a 5/5 flier to top of that! Weiss's only saving grace was that Blake was still at six mana. So she couldn't activate the ability just yet.

"Is there a problem?" Blake asked, still holding a smug look on her face. "Hardly, just a minor inconvenience." Weiss replied through gritted teeth.

Weiss drew her card, and looked at it in surprise. "Well, that's convenient." She said to Blake, in the same smug voice. "I'll cast Waterknot. It will tap your creature, and it won't untap until Waterknot is destroyed." She played the card on top of the Gravewalker. Blake frowned at this, knowing that she lost her main blocker to the Serpent. "I shall now swing with my Serpent as well as my Snapping Drake." Weiss smiled, tapping both creatures.

Blake looked down at her options. She knew that blocking the Serpent was a lost cause, not wanting to lose her whole board to kill one creature. However, killing the Drake with her Skymarch Bloodletter may be. If she could get her seventh land, recurring it back would be very beneficial. "I'll block your Drake with my Skymarch Bloodletter." She said, moving the creature in front of Weiss's flier. Weiss nodded, and both creatures went to the graveyard. Blake wrote her new life total to 15.

Blake drew her next card, and blinked a few times in surprise. _Not a land, but it'll do._ "I'll cast my Vampire Sovereign. When this creature comes into play, I get to drain three life from you." Blake said calmly, knowing she was still in a safe life zone.

Weiss internally panicked. Having her life total at 10 was already not a good situation to be in. But the fact that it was also a 3 /4 flier. Which made the situation worse was that she had no fliers of her own to block against it.

"Pass the turn."

Weiss drew her card. "I'll cast a second Snapping Drake." She quickly placed the flier onto the battlefield. "I shall also swing with my Serpent."

Blake took a moment to think about what she should do. She quickly came to a decision. "I'll block your Serpent with my Gravedigger." She put the creature in the graveyard. A fair sacrifice to keep her life total healthy.

Blake took her turn, and smirked at the card she drew. "I'll play my seventh land."

Weiss groaned at this, knowing what would happen next.

"I'll pay seven mana to return my Gravedigger back to the battlefield tapped. When it comes into the battlefield, I'll return my Skymarch Bloodletter back into my hand." Blake added.

Weiss was internally seething at this action. Not only did she freely negate the damage earlier by returning the destroyed creature. But she also gained a new flier for free as well! The sheer value from the tapped Gravewalker was becoming too much to bear.

"I'll pass the turn there." Blake was in no rush, knowing that she had inevitability on her side if the battle continued at this pace.

Weiss drew her card, then angrily placed the land down. _I have to start knocking her life down quickly! I also can't afford to let her sit back and slowly drain at my resources._ "I will tap seven mana to make my Serpent unblockable, then swing for four damage. Blake nodded and wrote down 14 as her life total.

Blake moved to her turn by drawing a card. "I'll cast my Skymarch Bloodletter. When it enters the battlefield I drain one life from you. Weiss eye twitched a bit, before writing down her life total at 9. "I'll also swing with my Sovereign." Blake tapped her creature, and sent it into the red zone.

Weiss thought for a moment about this attack. _I could simply block it, and save a few life points...but if I can draw into another flier I could possibly kill it. The downside would be that she can reclaim the creature back from her Gravewalker...but its most likely my only chance to survive._ "I won't block." She Weiss said, writing down her life total to 6.

Blake nodded at Weiss's decision. She knew that Weiss would be looking for any sort of way out. But unfortunately her spirit was generating far too much value for Weiss to escape from. Weiss's only out would be to somehow destroy her Gravewalker to keep her from re-animating her creatures back to the battlefield.

Weiss drew her next card, and Internally screamed at it being a land. "Pass the turn." She said dejectedly, playing the land onto the battlefield.

Blake went simply into the combat step, seeing her card draw was mostly useless at this point. "Attack with both my fliers." Blake tapped both the Sovereign and the Bloodletter.

Weiss moved her Drake in front of the Sovereign, only losing two more life, but setting it down to 4.

Weiss drew her card. She quickly placed her head down onto the table with a loud sigh as she placed a land down onto the table. "I concede..." She said sadly, unable to bear the shame of looking at her opponent.

Blake smirked, and began to pick up her cards. "Good game Weiss, I'm sure you'll have better luck next time."

"Again."

Blake looked back onto the heiress with confusion. Weiss slowly lifted herself from the table, eyes glowing with the rage of competition.

"I challenge you to another game! I refuse to let the score stand this way!" Weiss practically yelled, pointing at Blake with sheer determination and spite. Her very presence burned with the desire for revenge at the audacity of losing.

Blake gulped and gave Weiss a small thumbs up "Sure..." she said nervously.

 _I think I may have created a monster..._


End file.
